Herbert Art (American, 1910-1996), Dancing Model No. 16

Oil on canvas, 1985-1986, signed and dated at lower right, inscribed to the verso, unframed.

50 x 72 in.

Herbert Art was born in 1910 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and moved to Canton, Ohio, in 1921. After attending school locally, he began working for his father’s jewelry store in Alliance, Ohio, in 1925, launching a lifelong career as a jeweler and businessman.

At age 40, Art took up painting as a self-taught hobby. A trip to Italy in 1968, especially visits to mosaic and stained-glass exhibits in Florence, deeply influenced his artistic style. Working primarily in oils, he developed a unique technique he calls “containment of colors,” using a palette knife to create abstract compositions that evoke the look of stained glass or mosaics.

Good estate condition, a few areas of paint lifting and loss around wrapped canvas edge.